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Friday, June 15, 2012

London, Paris and the Alps

We are HOME!! I just got back from a wonderful 10 day trip to London, Paris, Lucerne and Munich with 7 great kids. We hooked up with a group out of Nebraska, who by the way turned out to be a great bunch, and we went through a whirlwind tour that was loads of fun.

We arrived to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in London. I don't think I have ever seen so many people or so many British Flags (the Union Jack) in one place. We even got to see the jets fly over London in her honor.

This is the view from the London Eye, if you look closely at the bridge you can see all of the people headed towards Buckingham palace for the celebrations.

This is the Olympic Stadium in London. Not sure what the tower is yet but I think the world will know in a few weeks.

This is Frank, he led our Jack the Ripper tour through London. He was really good and the kids enjoyed his presentation.

A picture of my group in front of the Louvre Museum

The Lock Bridge in Paris. A few years ago people started attatching locks to the fencing on a bridge and it has now become a tradition. Of course every few months the city has to go in and cut the locks off because they are too heavy to all be on there.

My group in front of the Eiffel Tower. Always a favorite picture to take.

The view from my hotel room in Switzerland. I could definately wake up to this every morning. It was so beautiful and so peaceful. Even the bells on the cows became a beautiful sound in the hills.

This is the church that was near our hotel in Switzerland. I thought it was beautiful and I am going to try to paint a picture of it this summer. I was truely inspired by this place.

My girls at the top of Mt. Pilatus. We were so disappointed that day because the top of the mountain was covered in heavy clouds, sleet and even a little snow.

But the views coming down the mountain were gorgeous. I even saw Edelweiss flowers. Of course by the time I figured out what it looked like it was done growing. It only grows up very high in the mountains.

Another view of the Swiss Alps.

The memorial Lion Sculpture in Lucerne. This was carved to commemerate the life of the Swiss guards that were killed protecting the French family during the French Revolution.

My group taking a silly picture next to a statue in Lucerne. We had all been shopping in this store and thought this would be a cute picture.

Neuschweistein Castle in Germany. This was King Ludwig 2nd's third palace in the Bavarian countryside. It is built on the side of a mountain and the views from there are breathtaking. Only about 1/4 of the palace is finished on the inside. He died before it was done and they quit working on it when he passed away.

This is a memorial sculpture in front of the main building at Dachau Concentration Camp. While this place was very deep, I am very happy to have seen it and experienced it.

This is the Jewish Chapel in the Dachau camp. It was built as a memorial to all who perished there. It was by far my favorite of all of the chapels. You had to walk down to get into it, and they it was made with all dark stone and marble except for one large piece of white marble that was in the back corner and streched to the ceiling and then out through a small opening at the top. It was the darkest and yet most beautiful memorial I have ever seen.

The trip was fantastic, a lot of rain but the kids were great and willing to do anything whenever we needed to. I had a great time and I am now excited for my trip that leaves in 2 years.